1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is in portable holding devices adapted to grip and hold blades having edges to be honed and provided with guides for guiding the honing tool relative to the edge being honed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The nearest prior art known to the inventor are his own patents identified as follows. U.S. Pat. No. 3,819,170, Portable Sharpener, issued June 25, 1974, discloses a portable knife sharpener having jaws adapted to grip a blade and having guide members adapted to guide a honing tool or relative to and in engagement with the edge of the blade being sharpened. In this device the guide members are fastened to the end of one of the jaws opposite the gripping end of the jaws.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 4,320,892 Knife Sharpener issued Mar. 23, 1982 to the inventor there is also disclosed a set of blade gripping jaws with guide members secured to the top and bottom surfaces to guide the hone area. There is no provision or capability of folding the guide members into a position in which they are contiguous to and extend lengthwise of the jaws in either of these prior art references.